Akula
|related = Savage FH-1 Hunter |swankness = 3/5 |dashtype = Lazer (needle) Flyer (dial texture) |inttxd = Jet |carcols = }} |wheeltype = Sports |flags = }} |modelsets = |modelname = akula |handlingname = AKULA |textlabelname = AKULA |roadspawn = No |roadspawnmaxcol = 10 |roadspawnfreq = 100 |roadspawntrailer = |roadspawnidendis = 20 |roadspawndrivers = |roadspawngroups = |roadspawnlicense = |engineacceleration = |exhaustacceleration = |idle = |deceleration = |genpreced = |gensucced = }} The Buckingham Akula is a stealth gunship attack helicopter featured in Grand Theft Auto Online as part of the Doomsday Heist update. Design ''Grand Theft Auto Online'' The Akula is an attack helicopter based on the , with a canopy that combines the aspects of the (front windows) and the (side windows). The tail setup is very similar to that of the FH-1 Hunter, being a , but the rearranged fins makes it similar to that of the , but with a wider and lower tail structure similar to a and the aforementioned Comanche. The Akula is of Russian origin, as evidenced by its markings, including "RF1 АКУЛА" and the characteristic red stars (much like the V-65 Molotok). The helicopter can transport four occupants, situated in a sedan-like seating, where the pilot and the copilot sits in the front row and the passengers on the rear one. The aircraft also features two folding stub wings, with two miniguns. When mounted with Homing Missiles/Missile Barrage, the aircraft adds two additional stub wings to carry the missile pods. Current Design Gallery Performance ''Grand Theft Auto Online'' ;Vehicle The helicopter is relatively fast, agile, and has similar handling to the FH-1 Hunter. According to Rockstar Games Social Club, the Akula currently holds the fastest acceleration and best agility records, however it is still barely surpassed by the Volatus in top speed. Handling wise, the Akula is extremely responsive, requiring minor inputs to smoothly control the aircraft. The Akula has the unique ability to perform an aileron roll, if either roll input is held while maintaining significant forward momentum. If the roll is not completed, the helicopter may begin falling out of the sky if the pilot does not recover. The vehicle features two cameras with three vision modes: regular, thermal vision or night vision, which can be operated by the two rear passengers. While the Akula's weapons cannot be used while in stealth mode, the cameras can still be operated, allowing the operators to spot any enemy. ;Defense The Akula serves as a versatile transport helicopter with strong armour and superior maneuverability, allowing it to evade threats such as homing rockets, which can also be outrun by the Akula's very high speed. With maximum armour upgrades, the helicopter will take eighteen Heavy Sniper rounds before exploding and can withstand five explosive rounds from the Heavy Sniper Mk II. The helicopter can survive two direct hits to the fuselage from homing missiles and a third one will destroy it. The helicopter's lock-on "hit box" is midway down the tail of the helicopter. This can make avoiding missiles while flying straight forward more difficult, compared to if it was centered on the engine of the aircraft. In addition, just like the Hunter, the Akula's rotor blades have a separate health pool. This potentially allows the Akula to survive up to four missiles, if two hit the helicopter's blades and two hit its main body. The most notable feature of the vehicle is its stealth mode, which allows the entire crew to navigate around the map without being spotted by enemy radars, making it useful for surprise attacks and getaways. Enabling stealth mode also reduces the pilot's wanted level to 2 stars if the pilot has 3 or more stars. However, its weapons are disabled for the pilot and the copilot during the stealth mode. In addition, cloaking the Akula does not protect it from a Galaxy Super Yacht's defense system, the Weazel News TV spectator channel or being spotted by the Orbital Cannon surveillance system. Also, most homing weapons are still able to lock onto it. Combined with the Lack of countermeasures, the Pilot must be careful or skillful enough to dodge enemy missiles. When stealth mode is enabled, it will hide the aircraft from the minimap along with all items carried by the occupants. These include: *Biker Business Supplies, Gunrunning Supplies, Special Cargo, Air Freight Cargo, Heist Prep Equipment. *Dead Drop and Hot Property briefcase/package. *Hostile Takeover briefcase. ;Weaponry Like the Hunter, the Akula features an array of weapons available for use: *'Nose-Mounted Turret:' A three-barreled .50 caliber Minigun turret mounted on under the nose of the aircraft, which can be operated by the co-pilot. This weapon provides a camera view, similar to the Valkyrie or the FH-1 Hunter. While aiming coverage is good, the turret is not stabilized like the aforementioned helicopters. As result, the gunner's aim will be disrupted by the pilot maneuvering the aircraft. By default the Akula comes with only a single gun, but can be upgraded to dual guns. *'Miniguns:' Two .50 caliber Miniguns, which can be operated in the same way as in a Buzzard Attack Chopper, having longer range, but suffering a significantly reduced firing rate. While the bullets individually deal the same damage, the slower firing rate, significantly reduces the overall damage output. This, paired with the unsteady nature of the Akula's handling, makes using these weapons difficult unless when dogfighting another helicopter. When not in stealth, the wings are opened up to align the guns and when entering stealth mode, the wings will fold back to the vehicle. If the wings are damaged enough, they will start dangling and the helicopter cannot enable/disable stealth mode. *'Barrage Missiles/Homing Missiles:' Unlike most aircraft, the pilot must choose to either equip either barrage missiles or homing missiles. The barrage missile pods behave similarly to those of the FH-1 Hunter sharing the same range, damage but also the smaller blast radius. However, the Akula can only fire up to four missiles in a barrage, compared to the Hunter's seven. After firing a full volley, the pilot must wait for a short cooldown. If a full barrage is not fired, the pilot must either switch weapons or fire the remaining missiles before the "reload" cooldown is triggered. The alternative is equipping homing missiles, which have no "reload" cooldown like the FH-1 Hunter, Savage, or Pyro. In addition, the Akula's homing missiles have the same missile tracking as the Homing Launcher, making them more likely to hit their target but at the cost of a shorter lock-on range. *The vehicle has the option for installing bombs, providing heavy firepower against ground targets. There are four different Bomb choices: Explosive, Incendiary, Gas and Cluster; **The Explosive option has high damage over targets from all ranges, meaning any target caught in the "edges" of the blast radius receive the same damage as in the "center". **The Incendiary option creates a trail of fire similar to the Molotov Cocktail, burning the targets for a constant damage. Although the bombs are powerful at the center, it causes less damage on the "edges". **The Gas option causes a noxious effect on players and NPCs on impact, similar to the Tear Gas. It has a slightly larger blast radius than the standard bomb, but is unable to damage vehicles. The gas lasts for around 25 seconds. **The Cluster option creates a smaller explosion than the standard one on impact, but small clusters spread within its radius, allowing for greater damage over a single armored target. GTA Online Overview Akula= |rsc_acceleration = |rsc_agility = }} |-| Miniguns= |-| Rocket Launchers= Modifications ''Grand Theft Auto Online'' :*'' Denotes items that can only be unlocked for purchase via research in the Bunker property. Image Gallery ''Grand Theft Auto Online DDH-Akula-Artwork.png|An Akula shown in the official artwork. Akula-GTAO-Official.jpg|Pre-release screenshot of the Akula, with dual minigun turret and Homing Missile upgrades. AkulaFront-GTAO-Trailer.png|The Akula, as seen in the trailer of The Doomsday Heist update. Akula-GTAO-Warstock.png|The Akula on Warstock Cache & Carry. Akula-GTAO-RGSC.jpg|The Akula on the Rockstar Games Social Club. AirQuota-GTAO-Akula.png|HUD icon in Air Quota. Akula-GTAO-NoSecondaryWeapons-CloseUp.png|Close-up of the side weapon hardpoint with No Secondary Weapons applied. Akula-GTAO-MountedMissileBarrage-CloseUp.png|Close-up of the Mounted Missile Barrage. Akula-GTAO-MountedHomingMissiles-CloseUp.png|Close-up of the Mounted Homing Missiles. Akula-GTAO-.50CalMinigunTurret-CloseUp.png|Close-up of the .50 Cal Minigun Turret. Akula-GTAO-Dual.50CalMinigunTurret-CloseUp.png|Close-up of the Dual .50 Cal Minigun Turret. Video Prominent Appearances in Missions ''Grand Theft Auto Online'' ;Doomsday Heist *The vehicle appears in the preparation mission "Akula", where it must be stolen after acquiring its flight data. *It is later used in the setup mission "Server Farm", used by the crew to infiltrate the NOOSE Headquarters and escape later on. *One is provided in the setup mission "Rescue Agent 14", used as getaway vehicles for the crew and Agent 14. If there are more than two players, two Akulas are provided. *Several Akulas can be seen in the Doomsday Heist Act III finale, The Doomsday Scenario, attempting to defend Avon Hertz. ;Adversary Modes *Air Quota (vehicle list 2) Locations ''Grand Theft Auto Online'' *Available for purchase on Warstock Cache & Carry for $3,704,050 or $2,785,000 (trade price after completing the Server Farm setup mission as the heist leader). This will require a Facility and a Hangar. **It is classed as a Medium vehicle. Changes Trivia General *"Akula" (АКУЛА) means "shark" in Russian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian and numerous other languages. This might be a reference to Ka-50's nickname 'Black Shark'. *The Akula does not feature any non-aesthetic physical instruments (that display real information), but the pilot can see the airspeed and altitude on the pilot's helmet HUD in first-person view. *The lights have a road legal cut off pattern, much like a car's headlights, indicating reused textures from some sort of vehicle. ''Grand Theft Auto Online'' *Although the Akula lacks a manufacturer in-game, the patch notes from the Rockstar Support page states it is manufactured by Buckingham. This is peculiar, considering that Buckingham is a British company and the Akula is a Russian helicopter. *A yft node named "countermea" is present on the Akula's model, suggesting that countermeasures had been included during internal tests but never made it into the game. *Contrary to what one would expect from a Fenestron tail (which should protect the tail rotor from solid structures), the tail rotor can be still broken if the player scratches the tail with the ground. Bug/Glitches ''Grand Theft Auto Online'' *Camera functions in the Akula would not properly work for the passengers even if they are not in stealth mode. This was corrected in the After Hours update. *Installing the dual .50 cal miniguns prevents the homing missiles to lock on to targets. This was corrected in the Arena War update. See Also *FH-1 Hunter - Another gunship attack helicopter featured in the Smuggler's Run update for Grand Theft Auto Online. *Savage - Another gunship attack helicopter featured in the Heists Update for Grand Theft Auto Online. References }} Navigation }} de:Akula (V) es:Akula pl:Akula ru:Akula Category:Vehicles Category:Vehicles in GTA Online Category:Helicopters Category:Helicopters Vehicle Class Category:Military Vehicles Category:Military Aircraft Category:Armed Vehicles Category:DLC Vehicles in GTA Online Category:DLC Vehicles Category:Vehicles in GTA Online: The Doomsday Heist Category:Vehicles manufactured by Buckingham Category:Exclusive Enhanced Version Vehicles in GTA Online Category:Medium Aircraft